Ceiling Caves In at San Pedro High School

There are growing concerns among residents of San Pedro over the safety of San Pedro High School’s infrastructure. Last week, we reported that the ceiling of the staff room on the third floor of the building had collapsed. As students across the country are scheduled to return to school over the course of the next few weeks, parents are asking what will be done to address the issue. On Wednesday night, one parent raised the issue in the presence of Area Representative Andre Perez and Mayor Gualberto Nunez during the Peoples Constitution Commission’s public consultation on the island. It is an unlikely forum to highlight the concern, but she says she has not been getting any answers.

Concerned San Pedro Resident

Concerned San Pedro Resident

“Perhaps this does not pertain to what we are discussing right now, but Mr. Perez spoke about education, next week our children are set to return to this same high school. There has been a major problem at this high school where the infrastructure fell down. Like I am saying maybe this is not the right forum and it does not pertain to this discussion but we have both of our leaders here. We have our Mayor Wally Nunez, Councilors, Mr. Perez our minister and several councilors. Every day I go to eh page to check if there has been a release from the Ministry of Education or this particular high school stating what is being done to fix it, there is nothing, absolutely nothing. Videos have been posted on social media, as a parent there will be many students, I think the capacity is seven hundred, I am not saying that seven hundred is going to occupy the first second and third floor because there are other structures, but is this facility safe for the return of our children minister? I am sorry to use this moment, but since you touched on education, I have to bring this up.”

We reached out to the principal of San Pedro High School and he informed us that the school’s management and engineers are carrying out an assessment of the damage. He noted that the entire building will be inspected to ensure that it is safe before the reopening of classes later this month.